By Our Correspondent
Nawfia community in Anambra State has been thrown into renewed tension after its traditional ruler, His Royal Highness Igwe Chijioke Nwankwo, declared that the spirit of his murdered father is haunting those responsible for the killing and will continue to disturb the town until the necessary traditional sacrifices are performed.
Igwe Nwankwo made the explosive revelation while reacting to the killing of four youths at Afor Nawfia Market on Saturday by suspected cultists, an attack that has once again jolted the already troubled town.
In an emotional reflection, the monarch said his father made immense sacrifices for Nawfia and benefitted every family in the community, only to be repaid with murder.
According to the monarch, the fresh tragedy is spiritually connected to the assassination of his father, Igwe F. B. C. Nwankwo, in the year 2000 in house in Nawfia.
He insisted that no community—whether in biblical or world history—has ever enjoyed genuine peace after killing its king without proper appeasement.
“The spirit of my father is haunting those who killed him. Until we unite and appease his spirit, peace will continue to run away from Nawfia,” he said, warning that the community’s crisis cannot be resolved by force or politics but through unity and tradition.
Igwe Nwankwo traced the unending unrest to 2020, when former Governor Willie Obiano suspended and later removed him from office allegedly because he travelled to Abuja to see the then President, the Mohammadu Buhari.
He maintained that he has been the legitimate traditional ruler of Nawfia since 2001 and explained that the court case was never about how he became Igwe but about the legality of his removal.
He said he was reinstated by a court in June 2022, yet some individuals who “believe they are above the law” have continued to disobey the judgment.
The monarch accused certain actors in the town of lacking pedigree and character, alleging that their involvement in the community’s traditional and administrative structures created the environment that allowed killings and chaos to thrive.
He recalled that people were murdered in September 2025 and their eyes plucked out before their bodies were dumped in Nawfia, insisting that the town cannot pretend while innocent blood continues to flow.
In one of his most daring allegations, Igwe Nwankwo blamed the Office of the Attorney General of Anambra State for the prolonged crisis, claiming the Attorney General failed to give the governor proper legal advice on the matter.
He said attempts to see the governor had been blocked by individuals who did not want the truth about Nawfia’s traditional stool to reach the state government.
“Let them challenge me so I can open the entire can of worms. I have kept quiet for too long. They want me to reopen the case of my father’s assassination. Murder has no time limit,” he declared.
The Igwe said he had sought protection from security agencies, including the DSS, because those fighting him on multiple fronts are pushing him toward suffering the same fate as his father.
He insisted that the overwhelming majority of Nawfia residents support him, citing DSS and local government reports which, according to him, showed that 95 percent of the community stands behind him.
He said only a handful of individuals—many of whom he personally honoured with chieftaincy titles—are responsible for the turmoil.
Igwe Nwankwo also stated that he had officially written to both the police and the governor warning that no one should parade himself as the traditional ruler of Nawfia, insisting that the person currently doing so has no legal basis.
He emphasized that it is the responsibility of the Attorney General to properly brief the governor on the legal status of the traditional stool.
Describing some individuals’ actions as “regressing from animistic tendencies to outright jungle behaviour,” he warned that the town risks deeper chaos if truth and tradition are ignored.
He recounted that he had successfully curbed cult activities at Afor Nawfia Market in the past, though he admitted that no society can completely eradicate criminality.
The Igwe reaffirmed that he ascended the throne on 29 December 2001 and received his certificate from the late Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju in November 2002, following proper recommendations and documentation.
He stressed that he never sought the throne but accepted it after the community chose him and documented its decision.
According to him, for lasting peace to return to Nawfia, the community must unite to appease the spirit of his father because “no community kills its king and enjoys peace.”
